The Mets announced they have added Zack Wheeler, Hansel Robles, Gonzalez Germen, Greg Burke, Darin Gorski and Wilfredo Tovar to the 40-man roster, which excludes them from being eligible for the Rule 5 draft.

Per MLB rules, Minor League players who have accumulated four seasons and were signed before age 19 (or five years and were signed before age 18) and have not been added to the 40-man roster are vulnerable to Rule 5 draft exposure.

The 40-man roster now stands at 39.

Michael Baron, Contributor

It’s interesting the Mets left Aderlin Rodriguez unprotected – he has shown strong power in the Minor Leagues and saw a promotion to St. Lucie in the second half. He struggles defensively, but he’s young and his power numbers were hard to ignore.

Anyway, the 40-man roster technically stood at 33 before these additions, but it’s been reported the Mets will non-tender Mike Pelfrey, and it’s likely they will also non-tender Andres Torres and Manny Acosta, which will open up roster spots as well. That doesn’t mean any or all of them won’t be considered for new contracts – for the time being, it will just open up those roster spots.

That’s not to say the Mets are locked into making only additions to the roster. Any trades they make as well as other players they could choose to designate for assignment would open up roster spots as well. However, the addition of as well as holdovers such as Wilmer Flores, Cesar Puello, Reese Havens, and Juan Lagares – all of whom are unlikely to make an impact at the big league level in 2013 – take valuable 40-man roster spots, which makes roster maneuverability more difficult both during the winter and the season.

The non-tender deadline is November 30, and the Rule 5 draft takes place during the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee on December 6.